Pain & Fatigue

You can’t understand if you haven’t been there.You need to walk a mile in their shoes.Or shoe.Or wheel if you can’t walk.You wake up more exhausted and in more pain than you went to bed.Too exhausted or in too much pain to shower or bath.Nausea means you feel like you’re moving when you’re still.Electric lights hurt your brain.Flashing lights and movement give you vertigo.Loud noises hurt your ears.Clothes hurt your skin, any touch is painful.Food hurts your stomach.Any medication has side effects that can make it worse.Pity hurts.Helpful suggestions hurt.Help not requested hurts.Most give up trying to get government help, … Continue reading Pain & Fatigue

Training With Pain & Fatigue

Training this morning with chronic fatigue, chronic arthritis, only one leg and sprained my neck and chest yesterday using a transfer board at an awkward angle to get from wheelchair to car. Was obviously seated, moving with care to not make anything worse and was using my breathing to open and then close all cavities, tissue and joints in the body filling them with energy to assist healing and reduce pain. Turning disadvantage into advantage was using my hip bones against the chair as my ‘feet’ and pain makes me extremely focused, mindful and concentrated, and the sensitivity makes me … Continue reading Training With Pain & Fatigue

Seated Meditation

Find a kitchen chair or something similar (as in the photo) to sit on. Breathe in by expanding the lower abdomen and back, then opening the ribs, stretching (but not stiffening) upwards through the crown of the head with the entire body, opening and filling with energy all the spaces and cavities, including joints and all tissue. When the breath in is complete wait to allow all the energy to finish rising until you would have to stop yourself from breathing out before placing the tongue to the top palette and releasing the breath, and energy, softening down, draining the … Continue reading Seated Meditation

My Advice on Prostate Cancer Treatment

There are some important personal experiences that I feel that I should share with you guys about the route to prostate cancer treatment. Firstly, if you can – get private health insurance that includes unlimited cancer treatment. On a blood test following my leg amputation I was found to have a high PSA count indicating prostate cancer. I was guided to a consultant who rubber gloved me and confirmed that I needed tests and treatment. I was told that:NHS treatment was as good and as fast as private treatment – not true.That my best option was surgery – also not … Continue reading My Advice on Prostate Cancer Treatment

Everyone Has A Story

As the government turns on people with disabilities, removing independence payments and most importantly social help of all kinds, no one can understand the full import of what becoming disabled means. We all have a different story and I’m lucky that I’m still able to work and support myself, with a lot of family, friends and students around me to help. Others are not so lucky. Having been an independent, fit, strong career martial artist for most of my life, becoming disabled and losing my leg meant that I lost 95% of my life. If asked if I would rather … Continue reading Everyone Has A Story

Entropy Of Life

EntropyFrom organised structure into chaos.You’re already dead.Death is infinite and assured.Life sits inside death.It’s finite and tentative.From the moment you’re born,You’re also dead.Life/death is yin/yangWithout death, life has no value. From young, healthy, attractive, nicely scented and succulent,You rot into a grey, dry, wrinkled,Old, invisible and ignored carcass,Smelling of piss and biscuits.From mindlessly leaping out of chairs,You go to the ‘Dawn Of Man’ routine to stand.Or slide from chair to wheelchair. Only young people say “if you’re lucky enough to get old”.When old, sick people hear of a ‘sudden death’, they think ‘lucky bastard’,Even if they don’t say it.The key … Continue reading Entropy Of Life

I Like Simple

I am a simple man.This is why I naturally gravitate to Taoism, Buddhism and Pantheism.I’m always looking for the bottom line.I don’t like clever or complicated.I don’t like deceit.I don’t like masks.I don’t like dogma.I don’t like robes.I don’t like temples and churches.I don’t like priests, vicars, bishops or popes.I don’t like flowery hands and embroidered feet.I dont like arrogance, false confidence or bluster.I like straight talk.I like patience, tolerance, kindness and compassion.I like unity, harmony, community and support.I rely on my gut, my instincts.I know a wrong ‘un when I see them.They pit one against the other.They rely on … Continue reading I Like Simple

Why Should I Be ‘Happy’?

Why should I be happy? One thing that’s always intrigued me is the human pursuit of happiness. Every quote, meme, lifestyle and business guru advert is about how to be ‘happy’, yet with only a little bit of examination we can see that to obtain and maintain the ‘happiness’ being shovelled to us is impossible. It’s an illusion that society’s manipulators captivate our souls with to keep us unfulfilled and forever chasing their carrot. Life consists of order and chaos and we need the wisdom to accept and deal with both aspects. All the time that we’re imprisoned in this … Continue reading Why Should I Be ‘Happy’?

Waking Up Our Chi

Waking up the chi…. The most important part of the day. To get the energy working and vibrant we have to exercise the spine, core and vagus nerve together. Using the mind, breath, emotions and Tai Chi movements, we meditate, calm the system first and then open, close, stretch, compress, twist and release the three together firing up the neural system and releasing the good hormones into the system. It’s an incredible feeling, opening all the cavities in the body and pumping and manipulating them, the stretch goes from tiptoe, to head and fingertips like the ‘yawning stretch’ and release … Continue reading Waking Up Our Chi

Your Body Talks To You

Your body is constantly talking to you. The problem is that if you only think and hear in words, you can’t hear it. It talks to in the same way that your dog, pet or baby does, you know what they want by their ‘body language’ and if your senses are only transmitting outwards, you can’t hear your own. When you turn your senses inward in meditation or training and learn to feel your body from the inside, it talks to you. This is important for your physical, emotional and mental health. Normally we don’t listen until it shouts in … Continue reading Your Body Talks To You